Description
This image we have developed at Imagineer is used often to explain the process of Self Directed Support.
(sometimes called ‘Self-Direction’, or ‘Personalisation’).
Imagine that your life is represented by a vehicle (in the image, we have shown it as a car). It makes sense if you (the person whose life we are talking about) are the driver of your own vehicle, and you can be in control of what direction your journey takes, and which ‘destinations’ you may wish to stop or spend time at. For many people, it is taken for granted that we have the right to determine our own life journey and to decide how we will live, whom we will live and spend time with, and what we will achieve with the time and resources we have available to us.
For people who need to access Health and Social care support, many of these decisions can be taken out of their hands and they can find themselves living, being supported and spending time in ways that they really wouldn’t choose if they were given control.
Self Directed Support is all about the person being in the driving seat of their own life. It is about recognising that the person and their family are the experts about what is best for them. It is about listening and understanding what makes sense. It is about helping people to understand about their rights and entitlements to support, knowing what is available and exploring what might be possible in order to live life in a way which makes sense to them and meets their needs.
A number of people have asked where they can get a copy of this image, so we are making it available as a download, to use as a ‘Zoom’ or ‘Teams’ background in meetings (such as assessments, planning meetings and reviews) where you want people to remember that the meeting is about YOU (or a person you are supporting) to make sure that they remain the focus and are central to any decision-making.
